Lawyer: Yoo not liable for prisoner's torture http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/14/BAM71DV157.DTL

A lawyer for former Justice Department attorney John Yoo asked a federal appeals court Monday to dismiss a prisoner's torture suit against him, arguing that a government attorney shouldn't be penalized for giving honest legal advice.

Jonathan Freiman, lawyer for plaintiff Jose Padilla, countered that Yoo was seeking a "perfect circle of deniability" for government perpetrators of torture and other illegal conduct.

Under Estrada's argument, Freiman said, abusive interrogators and jailers could claim they were following legal advice, top officials could assert executive immunity and lawyers who knowingly recommended lawbreaking could walk away unscathed.